View source for Al Lopez Field

{{short description|Former baseball stadium in Tampa, Florida}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name      = Al López Field
| nickname          = 
| image             = [[Image:Al Lopez Field.JPG|250px]]
| fullname          =
| location          = Tampa, Florida
| coordinates       = 
| pushpin_map         = USA Florida#USA
| pushpin_relief      = 1
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Florida##Location in the United States
| broke_ground      = 1954
| built             = 
| opened            = March 1955
| renovated         =  
| expanded          = 
| closed            = 1988
| demolished        = Spring 1989
| owner             = Tampa Sports Authority
| operator          = Tampa Sports Authority
| surface           = Grass
| construction_cost = "$287,901 ({{Inflation|US|287901|1955|fmt=eq|cursign=$}})"  
| architect         = 
| structural engineer = 
| services engineer =
| general_contractor= 
| project_manager   =
| main_contractors  = 
| former_names      = 
| tenants           = '''MLB Spring Training'''<br>[[Chicago White Sox]] (1955–1959)<br>[[Cincinnati Reds]] (1960–1987)<br>'''Minor Leagues'''<br>[[Tampa Tarpons (1957–1988)|Tampa Tarpons]] ([[Florida State League|FSL]]) (1957–1988)<br>'''College'''<br>[[South Florida Bulls|USF Bulls]] ([[NCAA]]) (1966)
| seating_capacity  = approximately 5,000
| dimensions        = Left - 340 ft.<br>Center - 400 ft.<br>Right - 340 ft.
}}

'''Al López Field''' was a [[spring training]] and [[Minor League baseball]] ballpark in [[West Tampa]], [[Tampa, Florida]], United States. It was named for [[Al López]], the first Tampa native to play [[Major League Baseball]] (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined in the [[Baseball Hall of Fame]]. Al López Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first [[spring training]] in {{mlby|1955}}, when the [[Chicago White Sox]] moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al López became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The [[Cincinnati Reds]] replaced the White Sox as Al López Field's primary tenant in {{mlby|1960}} and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The [[Tampa Tarpons (1957–1988)|Tampa Tarpons]], the Reds' [[Minor League Baseball#Class A-Advanced|Class-A minor league]] affiliate in the [[Florida State League]], played at the ballpark every summer from 1961&ndash;1987, and many members of the Reds' [[Big Red Machine]] teams of the 1970s played there early in their professional baseball careers.

Al López Field was constructed as the first phase part of a planned community sports complex, with [[Tampa Stadium]] built adjacent to the ballpark in 1967. When the [[Tampa Bay area]] began seriously pursuing a [[Major League Baseball]] expansion team in the 1980s, the site of Al López Field was widely regarded as a prime location for a potential major league ballpark. With the city of Tampa unwilling to offer a new long-term lease due to the facility's uncertain future, the Reds decided to move their spring training home to nearby [[Plant City, Florida|Plant City]] in {{mlby|1988}}. The Tarpons moved to [[Sarasota, Florida|Sarasota]] a year later, leaving Al López Field without a tenant.

The ballpark was razed in 1989 to facilitate faster construction of a major league replacement. However, MLB chose [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]]'s [[Tropicana Field]] as the home for the expansion [[Tampa Bay Devil Rays]], leaving the site vacant and Tampa without a professional baseball team. [[George M. Steinbrenner Field|Legends Field]] opened nearby in 1995 as the new spring training home of the [[New York Yankees]] and summer home of the minor league [[Tampa Yankees]]. In 1998, [[Raymond James Stadium]], a replacement for Tampa Stadium, was built at the former location of Al López Field.

==Pre-history and design==
{{see also|Sports in the Tampa Bay area|Baseball in the Tampa Bay area}}
[[File:Al Lopez Field entrance.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Entrance to Al López Field shortly before its demolition in 1989]]
Tampa was one of the first spring training locations in Florida. Beginning with the [[Chicago Cubs]] in {{mlby|1913}}, a series of major league teams trained at [[Plant Field]], a multipurpose facility near [[downtown Tampa]]. Plant Field was also the home ballpark of the minor league [[Tampa Smokers]], who were a charter member of the [[Florida State League]]. While the [[Cincinnati Reds]] were still training at Plant Field into the 1950s, the facility was old (it was built in 1898) and had to be shared among many different teams and events. City leaders decided that a new baseball-only facility would insure that Tampa could continue to host spring training and professional baseball into the future.

In 1949, the city of [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] bought {{convert|720|acre|km2}} of open land near [[West Tampa]] from the federal government. The large, grassy parcel had once been the perimeter of [[Drew Field]], a World War II-era airfield which was the precursor to [[Tampa International Airport]], and was purchased with the idea of building a large community sports complex.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tampapix.com/tampa1940s4.htm|title=Tampa in the 1940s page 4|access-date=21 August 2016}}</ref><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wMhOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Fk4DAAAAIBAJ&dq=drew-field%20tampa%20land&pg=2037%2C3866632 "Big Deeds Need Big Plans"] ''St. Pete Times'', June 9, 1949</ref> The construction of Al López Field in 1954 was the first phase of this project. It was located east of [[Dale Mabry Highway]] ([[U.S. Route 92|US Highway 92]]) and north of Tampa Bay Boulevard, near the center of the land parcel purchased in 1949. [[Tampa Stadium]], a much larger football stadium, was constructed beyond the baseball park's left field wall in 1967.

Much like the original Tampa Stadium, the design of Al López Field was functional and minimalist. The grandstand was primarily constructed from concrete and featured a high, curved aluminum [[Overhang (architecture)|overhang]] with no obstructing columns, a design similar to that of [[Miami Stadium]].

==Sporting history==
Construction on Al López Field was not quite complete on October 6, 1954, when it was officially dedicated as part of "Al López Day" in Tampa.<ref name="lopezday">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FRgyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=XnoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3021%2C3197081 | title=Tampa Gives Hero's Welcome to Modest Al | work=St. Petersburg Times | date=7 October 1954 | access-date=21 August 2016}}</ref> It was, however, ready for [[spring training]] in March {{mlby|1954}}, when the [[Chicago White Sox]] used the place as a training base while playing exhibition games at Plant Field.<ref>{{cite news|title=Big Time '54 Training Timetable|newspaper=The Sporting News|date=1954-02-03}}</ref> From 1957-1959, after the White Sox went north for the beginning of the regular season, their new [[Florida State League]] [[Minor League Baseball#Class A-Advanced|Class-A team]], the [[Tampa Tarpons (1957–1988)|Tampa Tarpons]], took the field.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Legacy Of Al López Endures |author=John Romano |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=1989-03-21 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19890321&id=mdQNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P3gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6370,219323|page=4C }}</ref> Al López became the White Sox manager in {{mlby|1957}}, putting him in the unusual position of managing in his hometown in a stadium that bore his name. During one ballgame, Lopez got into an argument with umpire John Stevens and was ejected. As Lopez said later, "The umpire threw me out of my own ballpark!"<ref>{{cite news|title=Lopez was oldest living Hall of Fame member |newspaper=ESPN.com |date=2005-12-12 |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/classic/obit/news/story?id=2208744 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070204085359/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/classic/obit/news/story?id=2208744 |archive-date=2007-02-04 }}</ref>

The White Sox moved their spring training home to [[Payne Park]] in [[Sarasota, Florida]] in {{mlby|1960}}, and the [[Cincinnati Reds]] (who had continued to train at Plant Field) moved their spring operations across town to become Al López Field's new tenants. The Reds would become the major league club most associated with the ballpark, as they used the stadium and the adjacent training facilities (nicknamed "Redsland") as their spring home for almost 30 years. As part of the agreement, the Tampa Tarpons became the Reds' Florida State League affiliate in 1960 and would remain in their minor league system until 1987. Consequently, several members of Cincinnati's championship-winning "[[Big Red Machine]]" of the 1970s, including [[Pete Rose]]. [[Johnny Bench]], and [[Dave Concepción]], played some of their first professional baseball in Tampa with the Tarpons and later returned for spring training with the big league club.<ref name="memorable">{{cite news | url=http://www.tbo.com/news/sports/2009/may/05/wake--call-lopez-field-was-memorable-place-ar-91951/ | title=Al López Field was a Memorable Place | work=Tampa Tribune / tbo.com | date=5 May 2009 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Johnston, Joey}}</ref>

Al Lopez Field was the one of several host venues for  the [[1974 Amateur World Series]], the first and only edition of the tournament (later renamed the [[Baseball World Cup]]) to be held in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Nine nations open baseball showcase |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/318592241/ |agency=St. Petersburg Times |date=13 November 1974 |page=37}}</ref>

The Reds hosted the [[1978 New York Yankees season|New York Yankees]] at the park on March 17, 1978. In honor of [[Saint Patrick's Day]], Reds general manager [[Dick Wagner (baseball)|Dick Wagner]] had green versions of the Reds' uniforms made. This was the first time a major league team wore green trimmed uniforms on March 17, a practice adopted in subsequent years by multiple major league teams for Spring Training games that fall on St. Patrick's Day.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100316&content_id=8811150&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb |title=How St. Patrick's became baseball's holiday; Cincy GM Dick Wagner turned the Reds green in '78 |author=Tom Singer |date=March 17, 2010 |work=MLB.com |publisher=Major League Baseball Advanced Media|access-date=23 February 2012}}</ref>

The [[South Florida Bulls baseball]] team played at Al López Field during their inaugural season in 1966, but moved to the on-campus [[Red McEwen Field]] the following year.

Besides professional baseball, Al López Field regularly hosted amateur and semi-pro baseball games, including many Florida high school baseball championships, and occasionally hosted boxing and wrestling matches.<ref name="wrestling">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UdBaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Tn0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5745%2C2552286 | title=AL Lopez's Lights Were Out for Brawl Game | work=The Evening Independent | date=27 June 1979 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Taylor, Gene}}</ref>

==Other events==
Al López Field was the site of several large civic events, particularly before [[Curtis Hixon Hall]] was built downtown in 1965. During a visit to Tampa in November 1963, President [[John F. Kennedy]] delivered his last major speech to an overflow crowd of 10,000 people at the ballpark only days before being assassinated in Dallas, Texas.<ref name="JFK">{{cite news | url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/panel-recounts-50th-anniversary-of-president-john-kennedys-tampa-visit/2152872/ | title=Panel Recounts 50th Anniversary of President Kennedy's Tampa Visit | work=Tampa Bay Times | date=13 November 2013 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Rossetter, Shelley}}</ref>

==Closing and aftermath==
[[File:Al lopez park sign.jpg|thumb|right|Entrance to Al López Park]]
By the 1980s, the [[Tampa Bay area]] was widely discussed as a possible home for either a major league expansion team or a relocated existing team, and the site of Al López Field was considered a prime location for a new major league ballpark if Tampa received a team.<ref name="expansion">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zJhjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H1kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6496%2C3091195 | title=Pinellas must not drop ball in stadium race | work=The Evening Independent | date=13 August 1983 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Richardson, Michael | location=St. Petersburg, Florida}}</ref> With the uncertainty about the future of the site, the Tampa Sports Authority would only offer the Reds a series of short-term leases for the continued use of the ballpark and the adjacent training facilities. The team responded by building a new facility in nearby [[Plant City, Florida]]. The {{mlby|1987}} season was the last in which the Cincinnati Reds held spring training in Tampa and the Tampa Tarpons were a Reds minor league affiliate.

The Tampa Tarpons reached an affiliation agreement with the Chicago White Sox for the {{mlby|1988}} season. However, various local groups continued to pursue a major league team and announced various plans for large stadiums at the Al López Field site,<ref name="tampadome">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/13/sports/tampa-to-build-domed-stadium.html | title=Tampa to Build Domed Stadium | work=The New York Times | date=13 January 1984 | agency=UPI | access-date=21 August 2016}}</ref><ref name="forgotten">{{cite news | url=https://tampasportshistory.blogspot.com/2008/01/forgotten-bay-area-stadiums-12683.html | title=Forgotten Bay Area Stadiums | work=Tampa Sports History / [[La Gaceta (Tampa)|La Gaceta]] | date=21 January 2008 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Puterbaugh, Travis}}</ref> leading the Tarpons' local owners to sell the minor league team to the White Sox in November 1988. The Tarpons moved to Sarasota in 1989 and were rechristened the [[Sarasota White Sox]], leaving Tampa without professional baseball for the first time in over 70 years.<ref name=SPT>{{cite news | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/51426586.html?dids=51426586:51426586&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+19%2C+1988&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Tampa+Tarpons+sold%2C+moving+to+Sarasota&pqatl=google | work=St. Petersburg Times | page=5.C | title=Tampa Tarpons sold, moving to Sarasota | date=November 19, 1988 | access-date=February 21, 2012 | archive-date=June 29, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629072409/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/access/51426586.html?dids=51426586:51426586&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Nov+19,+1988&author=&pub=St.+Petersburg+Times&desc=Tampa+Tarpons+sold,+moving+to+Sarasota&pqatl=google | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Al López Field Gets Year Reprieve From Sports Authority . |author=John Romano |newspaper=St. Petersburg Times |date=1988-02-16 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19880216&id=B8QMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=42ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6757,247781|page=6C }}</ref>

With no tenants and with a sense that the city would have to move quickly to build a major league stadium, the Tampa Sports Authority decided to demolish AL Lopez Field in early 1989. Al López himself had retired to Tampa and lived only a few miles from the ballpark that bore his name. In a 1992 interview, Lopez said that the razing of the stadium "wasn't very disappointing. I saw a diagram of the new stadium, and I didn't feel bad because I thought they were going to build a bigger one and a better one. After that, something happened, and they never built the ballpark. Then it was a disappointment."<ref name="lopezobit">{{cite news | url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/31/news_pf/Tampabay/Baseball_legend_Lopez.shtml | title=Baseball legend Lopez dies | work=St. Petersburg Times | date=31 October 2005 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Basse, Craig}}</ref> Horizon Park, a public park just north of Tampa Stadium, was renamed Al López Park in his honor in 1992.

While Tampa waited to build a new ballpark until it was guaranteed a major league team, St. Petersburg went ahead with construction on the domed stadium that is now known as [[Tropicana Field]]. It was completed in 1990, and St. Pete was awarded the expansion [[Tampa Bay Rays|Tampa Bay (Devil) Rays]] in {{mlby|1995}}.<ref name="teamneeded">{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-15-sp-452-story.html | title=Team Needed: St. Petersburg, Hoping to Impress Baseball, Has Built a Domed Stadium | work=Los Angeles Times | date=15 September 1989 | access-date=21 August 2016 | author=Crowe, Jerry}}</ref> Meanwhile, Tampa resumed its long affiliation with professional baseball in 1994, when the [[New York Yankees]] agreed to move their spring training home and Florida State League affiliate (the [[Tampa Yankees]]) to Tampa if the city built a new ballpark for their use. The city built [[George M. Steinbrenner Field]] (originally known as Legends Field) across Dale Mabry Highway from Tampa Stadium, about a quarter mile northwest of the former site of Al López Field. The city of Tampa also upgraded the nearby training facilities formerly known as Redsland for use by the Yankees.

The former site of Al López Field was a parking area for Tampa Stadium until 1998, when [[Raymond James Stadium]] was built on its footprint.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=11&Z=17&X=880&Y=7739&W=2&qs=%7cTampa%7cFL%7c 1987 topographic map showing the park site] from [[USGS]] via [[Microsoft Research Maps]]
* [http://www.tampapix.com/allopezpark3.htm Collection of photos and information about Al López Field and Al López Park]

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[[Category:Chicago White Sox spring training venues]]
[[Category:Cincinnati Reds spring training venues]]
[[Category:Minor league baseball venues]]
[[Category:Grapefruit League venues]]
[[Category:Sports venues in Tampa, Florida]]
[[Category:Demolished sports venues in Florida]]
[[Category:1955 establishments in Florida]]
[[Category:1988 disestablishments in Florida]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1955]]
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[[Category:South Florida Bulls baseball venues]]